


Rose Red

by Tabbyluna



Series: Femslash February 2021 [1]
Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Asking Out, F/F, Fluff, Screen Reader Friendly, Talking, Tattoos, no editing we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29287767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: Gearshift got sent a tattooing kit. And fortunately for her, Tuff Luck was there to try it out with her.
Relationships: Gearshift/Tuff Luck (Skylanders)
Series: Femslash February 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150892
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Rose Red

**Author's Note:**

> I am *late* for this. Mostly because I had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. But here we go, Femslash February 2021.

Gearshift frequently got presents from her dad. King Mercurus cared for his daughter, and whenever he found something or invented something which he thought she might enjoy, he would always send it over to her. No matter what. Gearshift’s room ended up becoming a storeroom of miscellaneous gadgets over the years, due to her father’s concern and generous doting.

Recently, she had gotten a small leather case from him. When she opened it up, she found that it contained several inks, a bunch of needles, a magnet, and some weird gun thing squirreled in among them. Like with all her gifts, she found a handwritten note on top of all of them. Picking it up, she scanned through it. 

“My daughter,” it read, in her father’s neat handwriting. “I recently found an interesting little device which I think you and your friends would enjoy. This right here, is a tattoo machine. I know that you don’t really consider yourself to be the most creatively inclined, but I know that as proud warriors, you and your friends would probably like to have some nice tattoos to show off. I hope that all of you have fun with this kit, and get to do something enjoyable.”

Gearshift smiled. Her father may not always get her, but she appreciates it whenever he tries to connect with her using things which she might enjoy.

Hauling the case under her arm, she went off in search for someone to begin tattooing with. Her first thought was to go find Splat. But along the way, while she was searching for her, Tuff Luck informed her that she was busy patrolling.

“She’s taking my route today,” she said. Several weeks ago, Tuff Luck sprained her ankle. She was currently on medical leave because of it. “Bless her heart, honestly. She was one of the few who volunteered when she heard I was out of commission.”

“Ah,” said Gearshift, looking down at her case. “So, how’s your ankle doing?”

“It’s healing fine,” she said. “Bit boring waiting around and doing nothing though. I’ve read all the books on my to-read list. And all I’m doing now is browsing through movies on Skyflix.”

Gearshift nodded, and then looked up again. She flipped open her case, showing Tuff Luck all that was inside it. “Wanna get a tattoo with me?”

Tuff Luck’s eyes widened, then a small smile crept across her face. “Ah, why not?”

* * *

It was a little hard navigating how to tattoo someone who was already fairly furry. The gun had a mod for tattooing furry creatures, but since it was Gearshift’s first time doing it, she needed a while to get used to it. 

They both had the foresight to practice on some furry material first. So that she did not make any egregious mistakes on Tuff Luck while learning to get used to it. Once she was confident in her ability to use it, Gearshift turned towards Tuff Luck and placed the fur down. 

“Okay, so,” she began, “do you have any ideas on what you want tattooed? And where?” She read through the instructions. And apparently, there was a way to cover up the whole tattoo if one was unsatisfied with it. It was kind of a complex magical procedure, so she knew she'd have to consult one of the Skylanders who were magic users to remove her tattoo. But for now, they could have fun with it.

Tuff Luck tapped the back of her hand. “I’d always wanted to have a four-leaf clover within a heart tattooed onto me. If it’s possible, try to draw it on here.”

Gearshift flipped through the inks, and chose a strawberry red. She shook it, and slotted it into the ink gun. “Hold still, alright?” She said. Tuff Luck nodded, and gave her her hand.

It was an intense moment. Gearshift focused in and drew. Slowly, carefully, as artfully as she could. 

“You’re doing quite well,” said Tuff Luck. Gearshift smiled. When the heart was done, she searched through the inks to pick a light green colour. After giving it a good shake, she pulled the strawberry red ink cartridge out, and she slotted in the green.

“I haven’t seen someone this careful with art in a while,” commented Tuff Luck. “Last time I saw someone so engrossed like this, it was my ex-girlfriend.”

“Oh?” Said Gearshift. “I didn’t know you used to have a girlfriend.”

“I did,” Tuff Luck sighed and chuckled. “Ah, it was a while back ago. We were both kids, really. It didn’t really work out, I blame our immaturity at the time. But overall I don’t regret the experience.”

“Hm…” she hummed.

Gearshift was always fascinated with the idea of different relationship categories. “It’s fascinating to me, the idea of a boyfriend or a girlfriend,” she told Tuff Luck. “Back home, we never really made the distinctions between our intimate relationships as clear. Like, there’s definitely people who we feel much closer to than anyone else. But we never really marked out the distinction between someone who’s a ‘best friend’ and someone who’s a ‘lover’, for example. It was just someone who we were intimately close with.”

Tuff Luck nodded. “Interesting,” she said.

“I am kind of interested in someday getting a lover though. If only just to see how it’s different from the partnerships and relationship units I’m familiar with.” 

“Well, I wish you all the best for that,” said Tuff Luck. And soon afterwards, she was done with her tattoo.

“Well, how do you like it?” Asked Gearshift. Tuff Luck inspected the back of her hand carefully, and smiled.

“I like it quite a lot,” she smiled. “Reminds me of pixel art, in a way. Like something out of one of those old video game sprites.”

“Really?” Gearshift never considered how the way she visualised things might look to more organic beings. That was… interesting to think. How the way she processed visual information might look towards others. She wondered if that meant she’d been processing visuals differently the entire time…

Seems like something she’ll have to look further into. 

“Now, I guess I’ll be doing your tattoo now,” said Tuff Luck. She picked up the instructions from the leather case, and began flipping through them to the segment on metals. “Any designs you have in mind?”

Gearshift hummed, thinking about it. “Hm, since I gave you something all pixel-ish, why not you give me something more organic?” She looked down at the inks they had available. All the different colours. “Surprise me. Draw anything living and natural on me.”

“Now, that’s an idea,” smiled Tuff Luck. “Where do you want it done?” She asked.

“Hmm…” thinking, considering. Where would be a good place to get a tattoo? “How about on my back?” She asked. The frame type she was given wasn’t particularly large, but she figured that her back was a large enough canvas for something interesting to come out of this activity.

Soon, she found herself resting her head on her folded arms. The pinching sensation of a tattoo gun was felt all across her back.

“What are you drawing back there, anyways?” Asked Gearshift. 

“That, my dear, is a surprise,” she called people ‘my dear’ a lot, at least that's what Gearshift noticed. It was a quirk of hers that she always found interesting. How casually friendly she was with everyone. 

“Do you have much experience drawing or tattooing, Tuffy?” She asked. The way she drew in her felt gentle, but firm. It wasn’t often when she could find a sensation which she found legitimately pleasant (for the most part her sense organs have largely been functional, and she felt neutral feelings towards most sensations rather than positive or negative), but the way Tuff Luck was touching her, the feel of the needle on her metal, it actually felt quite nice.

“Not a lot,” she admitted. “My younger siblings did have a toy temporary tattoo maker though. So I did play around on that thing for a while.”

“Ah,” some practice was better than no practice. And the way she drew on her back certainly felt like she at least had some amount of practice.

“Alright,” Tuff Luck said, after some time. “I think I’m done.”

“Can I see?” Asked Gearshift.

“You’ll need to get a couple of hand mirrors first.”

Gearshift nodded, and headed back to her room to get those. King Mercurus had gotten her a couple of large hand mirrors in the past, she remembered that. It’s just that she had stuffed them to the back of her closet, since she didn’t feel much need to use them. 

She made a mental note to thank her dad for being a constant provider in her life later.

Once she returned, Tuff Luck told her to hold one of the mirrors in front of her. Once she did, Tuff Luck aimed the other mirror behind her back, and she saw it. 

“Oh wow…” it was beautiful. Drawn all across her back, was this gorgeous tapestry-like tattoo of vines and red roses. 

Tuff Luck smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” She chuckled. “To bring it back to our conversation on relationships earlier, did you know that red roses symbolise love in some parts of Skylands?”

Gearshift turned to face her, her eyes wide. “I think I might have read that somewhere actually! It’s cool thinking about these things.” How some concepts, like love and friendship and different types of relationships, not only need separate words to different people. But also symbols to represent them. It’s so fascinating for her to think about. How people need these things to mean something different, the richness and diversity of existence in Skylands.

Tuff Luck nodded. “Right then. Consider it my way of asking you out.”

That took her by surprise. “Oh, I…” she didn’t quite know how to respond to that. “I never knew you were interested in me that way.”

“I actually didn’t really. Not until you mentioned that you wanted to try out dating,” said Tuff Luck. “In all honesty, it’s already been quite a while since I last went out with anyone. So, I guess in a way it’ll be a fresh experience for me too. Seeing someone new after such a long time.”

Gearshift bit her bottom lip. “Hm…” this offer came when she had least anticipated it. But it wasn’t like it was an unwanted offer… “What plans do you have?” She asked.

“Well, I know this beautiful island garden we could go to. We could go there, look at all the different flowers. I believe the inhabitants there have been growing a ton of different types of roses as of late.” 

A smile, she placed her hand on Tuff Luck’s shoulder. “Let’s do it. How far away is it?”

“Not that far away. And anyways, I think my ankle is healing up nicely. How about we head there next week?” Suggested Tuff Luck.

Gearshift nodded. “Sure thing.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's so fluffy, I know. But I was kind of not sure how to go about the prompt. So, here we are.


End file.
